Screenwriting 101: Alvin Sargent
“My confidence grows or dissolves with each day’s work. As I work and start to see ‘it’ happening and realize that I’m moving somewhere…
“My confidence grows or dissolves with each day’s work. As I work and start to see ‘it’ happening and realize that I’m moving somewhere, that there’s some kind of real life, then it’s a good day.
“But when it doesn’t seem to be working for a long time, or you just can’t find the truth, then the terror sets in. You must not stop. You cannot give in to anxiety. Maintain energy. Drive. Rage. Whatever it takes to keep writing.
“Even though you can’t immediately solve problems, that doesn’t mean the work isn’t alive. You go back. Back to the beginning. The process is to move into it, come up to it, step by step, find out where you’ve hit it wrong, what’s dishonest. Where you’ve gone wrong usually involves a matter of honesty. You’ve been dishonest either to the character or to the structure of the piece.”
— Alvin Sargent
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